


I'll Fly, and I'll Fall and I'll Burn

by TheRudeTasteofSane



Category: Persona 5
Genre: "good" ending, M/M, Ryuji is not as clueless as he is in game, this gets kinda dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 13:15:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13548087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRudeTasteofSane/pseuds/TheRudeTasteofSane
Summary: I'll love, and I'll hope, and I'll die





	I'll Fly, and I'll Fall and I'll Burn

**Author's Note:**

> There's a brief, non-graphic, non-con scene towards the end. Light spoilers for the "Good" Ending. 
> 
> First fic for Persona 5, so it might be kinda ooc. Constructive criticism welcomed.
> 
> The premise:
> 
> *-SPOILERS FOR "GOOD" ENDING-*
> 
> After Akira makes a deal with the God of Control, Ryuji breaks his heart and causes his desires to become distorted. The God of Control decides to take advantage of the situation and offers Akira more power as a Persona user at a price: his desires will become even more twisted.

It was Valentine's Day when Ryuji first noticed that something was off.

The most telling thing was the way the black-haired teen reacted to Ryuji's presence.

Almost as if he had a crush on Ryuji, but the blonde dismissed that immediately. Akira had never before seemed interested in anyone else, let alone a girl.

And yet he'd brought out a box of chocolates with Ryuji's curry, a faint pink tinge on his cheeks.

"I.. I like you, Ryuji. You were the only one who never cared about my criminal record, the first person to believe that it was undeserved," ' _his eyes_ ', Ryuji noted absently. ' _Are they darker?_ '

When he took a closer look at Akira's face, however, he could find nothing amiss.

"Uhh.. I'm really sorry bro, but.. I don't like you that way?" The end came out sounding uncertain, when Akira's expression of hope smoothed into a blank.

"I-.. I see," the leader's voice faltered. "My apologies for burdening you with the knowledge of my feelings." Ryuji hated the formal tone Akira's voice took on and frowned.

"Dude, I don't care if you're gay, bi, whatever. You're still my best bud," he knew the statement was the wrong thing to say, even as he said it.

Akira hunched inwards on himself, and after several seconds of silence he quietly asked Ryuji to leave.

Feeling sick to his stomach with the knowledge that he was hurting his best friend, Ryuji did as he was asked, hovering uncertainly at the door to LeBlanc with an unhappy frown on his face.

"I'll s-see you at school," he mumbled, and quickly walked away.

Once Ryuji reflected on everything that happened afterwards, he realized that's where it all started to go wrong.

\--

As expected, their meet ups were incredibly awkward after Valentine's Day.

For Ryuji, at least. Akira seemed unaffected, although Ryuji had known the pain of rejection enough in his life to know that the black-haired leader was probably just hiding his discomfort.

The only real tell was Akira's newfound avoidance of his best friend.

Ryuji was usually a permanent fixture in the battle lineup, but lately whenever they entered Mementos or a Palace it was Yusuke who took Ryuji's place.

After nearly a month on the bench, Ryuji was beginning to get restless. Still he waited, sure that Akira would call on him eventually.

His patience was rewarded a couple of days later when everyone on the front lines seemed to be especially unfocused. Akira motioned for Morgana to switch with Ryuji, and Ryuji grinned with excitement.

"Alright, who's up for a beat down?" Captain Kidd surged forth with a gleeful cry, blasting the enemies to smithereens with cannon fodder.

He turned with a laugh, feeling reckless and free, only for the laughter to die out when he caught Akira's gaze.

His face was smiling, but Akira clearly wasn't happy.

Ryuji cleared his throat at the sobering reminder of Akira's reason for sadness and slunk to the back of the group. Gone were his feelings of victory and freedom. In their place was a sense of meekness he couldn't shake.

\--

Months dragged by, and Ryuji heard the others starting to whisper.

Akira wasn't acting like himself.

He had always been quiet, sure, but he'd never seemed like he was deliberately shutting them out.

His pale skin started to look sickly, and his grades (usually numbering in the top ten) slipped to slightly above average.

Ryuji felt powerless to stop their leader's obvious decline, since Akira had openly declared he didn't want to be close to the blonde boy anymore.

Even Ms. Kawakami had come to Ryuji, hesitantly asking if Akira was okay.

Clenching a fist, Ryuji swore he heard a hint of Yaldabaoth's mocking laughter.

That was the last straw.

"I'll talk to him," Ryuji promised.

Easier said than done when Akira was blatantly avoiding him.

\--

It was through Sojiro's involvement that Ryuji finally cornered the leader.

He texted Ryuji at nearly sundown, letting him know that Akira was finally home. Behind that message was one asking Ryuji to make sure the kid had his head on straight.

Sojiro pointed upstairs when Ryuji got to LeBlanc, flipping the sign to closed and locking the front door.

As he ascended the stairs to Akira's dusty attic bedroom, Ryuji immediately noticed a change in atmosphere.

The fiery concern he'd been grasping onto in his mind dissipated at the sight of Akira lying on his back on his bed. In it's place was a rapidly growing unease that something wasn't right.

"Sakamoto," Ryuji's mouth tightened in a grimace at the use of his last name. "What brings you here?"

Ryuji drew himself up to his full height, features hardening into seriousness.

"You're scarin our friends, Akira. Even if it ain't me, you gotta talk to somebody. Look, even _Iwai-san_ ' _s_ been askin about ya," Akira was silent for several minutes, eyes trained on Ryuji's face.

"Tell me, Sakamoto.. do you dream?" thrown off-kilter by the complete dismissal of his words, Ryuji stammered an affirmative.

Something unrecognizable shifted the expression on Akira's face, and he sat up.

Ryuji's stomach dropped and he tensed. As oblivious as he could be, even he sensed the sudden danger crackling in the air.

"I dream every night," Akira continued getting off his bed, walking with deliberately slow steps towards Ryuji.

To his horror, Ryuji realized he couldn't move.

"And sometimes," Akira breathed in his ear "I dream about you."

While Ryuji had been distracted by words, Akira grasped him through his school pants.

Ryuji let out a choked noise, fighting with all his strength. He didn't budge an inch.

Cold realization washed over him when he heard Akira's deep chuckle. The boy in front of him was somehow controlling his movements. Fear crawled up Ryuji's spine.

Since when had Akira been able to manipulate the real world?

"Do you wanna know what I dream about us, Sakamoto?"

Ryuji desperately did _not_  want to know.

"I dream of breaking you," Akira whispered, eyes glittering maliciously in the gathering gloom of dusk.

When Ryuji found himself able to move, he ran as fast as he could down the stairs and out of LeBlanc.

\--

"Guys, I think--...," Ryuji's voice broke, and he started crying angrily, surrounded by his friends. "No, I _know_  Akira's got a Palace. And I'm pretty sure I'm the cause."

**Author's Note:**

> *-SPOILERS FOR "GOOD" ENDING-*
> 
> Maybe this is an unpopular **opinion**, but.. making a deal with Yaldabaoth basically makes Akira as bad as the villains he fights, considering he kinda just enslaved the human race for fame.


End file.
